Not applicable.
Adjustable garments can be a great aid to human effectiveness, particularly in performing complicated or strenuous activities outdoors. Strategically placed pockets can make important supplies and accessories readily available in a convenient location for the wearer of the garment. Moreover, zippered vent openings in thermally important positions can provide ventilation on demand to rapidly reduce the temperatures within the garment during periods of heavy exertion, or, alternatively to maintain temperatures when the wearer is at rest.
Pockets and vent openings are closed with conventional fasteners such as zippers, snaps, string ties, and hook and loop fastening systems. However, depending on the location of the opening, the disposition of the wearer""s limbs, the stance of the wearer, wind conditions, etc., the openings, once the fasteners have been released, may be of greater or lesser size. If the side flaps of the opening remain adjacent one another, air passage therethrough may be restricted in the case of a vent, or access to the contents may be cumbersome in the case of a pocket.
What is needed is a reclosable opening which may reliably present a definite passageway once it has been unsealed.
The closure system of the present invention has a spring member with two arms spaced on opposite sides of the slit opening of a pocket or ventilation opening, formed, for example, in a garment. The spring member is formed of a resilient material such as nylon. In its undeformed condition, the spring member arms are curved above and below the plane of the flexible fabric containing the opening. When the closure, be it zipper, snaps, buttons, hook and loop fasteners, or otherwise, is closed, the spring force of the spring member is overcome, and the pocket or ventilation opening is closed in a conventional fashion. When the closure is opened, the restorative force of the spring member arms causes the flaps on opposing sides of the opening to spread apart. The spring member may be U-shaped or a closed loop, and it may be fastened to the fabric to surround the closure, or may be formed as a part of the closure and attached to the fabric. The wide opening of the mouth facilitates air flow through a ventilation opening, and one-handed unobstructed access to contents of a pocket.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pocket which has a wide mouth when it is opened.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a ventilation opening in a garment with a wide surface area when opened, despite the orientation or posture of the garment""s wearer.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.